Miscommunications
by tophis1
Summary: Erik is starting to feel out of place in Madeleine's life. Erik/Raoul friendly-ness. No slash. sorry


"What do you call that note?"

There was a long pause before a deep yet calm voice replied "That's a quarter note."

"Oh." Another pause. "And that one?"

"That's an eight note."

It was utterly amazing to Raoul that Erik could sit so calmly and explain all this to her. He knew the man was prone to fits of anger; especially when someone didn't learn fast enough for his liking. Yet he still sat with her at the piano, slowly reminding her of each fundamental that they had already gone over at least twice.

"Ahem." Both of the figures in the lounge looked over to Raoul, who was standing in the doorway. He nodded at Erik in greeting and flashed an apologetic smile. "Pardon me for interrupting your lessons, but I'm going into town for a few things. Would you two care to join me?"

Madeleine beamed before leaping off the piano bench and running over to him. "Yesyesyes!" She jumped up and down with each exclamation. After she was calmed down, she looked over to Erik who still sat at the piano. "Come with us, Erik."

The man looked back at the papers sitting neatly in front of him with a frown. "I don't think I should impose-"

"Nonsense." Raoul laughed. "You're welcome to join us any time. You know that by now."

For a moment, Erik just sat still and worried his bottom lip. Yes, by now he knew of Raouls unending forgiveness and kindness towards him, if only because Christine wished it of him. But he had gone as long as he could without taking the Vicomte's offers and services. He didn't want to owe him anything.

An image of baby Madeleine flashed in his mind, making him mentally curse. He already owed the boy everything. He'd given him a second chance at life and not only that, it was a second chance in Christine's life. He got to spend every day in their home, teaching her sweet daughter everything he knew.

With a resigned sigh, he nodded and stood. Madeleine clapped happily. "Yay! Can we go to the book store, Erik? And the doll shop?"

"It's up to your father." Erik smiled a bit as she took his hand, dragging him out to the carriage.

"Sit next to me, Erik! Sit here!" She jumped inside, ignoring the servant offering to help her in. She very excitedly patted the bench next to her. Erik glanced over to Raoul who wasn't perturbed at all that she'd rather sit next to the Red Death than him. Erik cautiously took his seat, as if she would suddenly decide she no longer wanted him near her.

"Pappa? Can I get a new doll?" She bounced in her seat, making both men feel tired just watching her. "Please? Pleeeaaase?"

Raoul tried to give her a stern look, but it was obvious that he was already caving. "Madeleine, you have enough dolls."

Instantly, at the sign of a refusal, Madeleine made the saddest face she could muster. "But…"

The emotionless façade instantly faded and Erik could already see how this would play out. But before he could confirm that he would, indeed, get her a new doll, Erik intervened. "Perhaps you could make some new clothes for your current dolls."

Madeleine gave him her full attention. "You can do that?"

Erik nodded. "You can create whatever dresses you want. And it could help you practice your sewing."

"Aw, I hate sewing!" Madeleine grumbled, crossing her arms unhappily before slouching against the corner of the carriage.

Raoul smiled at her and decided to play along with Erik's idea. "He's right. Just think of all the designs you could make. You could even pick out the material."

For a moment, Madeleine sat and thought this over. "Can I get pink silk?"

"Maybe you should start with something a little easier to sew. Like cotton." Erik almost smirked at how similar she was to her father. Always going for something that caught his eye; usually very expensive and hard to manage.

"Well… ok." She smiled once again.

No one had noticed the carriage had stopped until the driver came around and opened the door. Madeleine jumped out first, followed by Raoul who quickly took her hand before she went running off, then Erik, who adjusted his fedora self-consciously before trailing after them.

The day was too sunny for his taste, but unfortunately, Madeleine loved warm summer days like this. She would often ignore piano lessons because she was busy staring out the window at the open fields.

But Erik could never be mad at her. Even though she was a slow learner and a bit too energetic, she was very sweet and never treated him oddly because of his mask. It meant a lot that she even asked him for things, instead of her father.

"Go ahead and look at the books, dear. Erik and I will be at the café." He pointed to the little café at the corner. Madeleine eagerly nodded and went into the book store, leaving the two alone.

They sat across from each other at one of the outside tables. It was already three in the afternoon, so the lunch rush had already left. No one would be around to bother them and Raoul knew Erik would prefer it that way.

"How are her lessons going?" He asked conversationally, hoping to get Erik to stop staring at the door to the bookstore. He knew Erik worried a lot for Madeleine's safety, which was one of the top reasons he trusted him so much.

"Fine." Erik answered shortly, clasping his hands together on his lap. "Though she detests the piano."

Raoul couldn't help but smile. "I'm sorry to hear that." Of course, it meant nothing to him whether or not she was musically gifted, but Erik would have loved a pupil who wanted to learn piano. "I heard you don't exactly help her inattentiveness."

Erik scowled, though on the inside he was smiling. He needed to have a stronger hand with her, but he couldn't possibly harm her. When he looked at her beautiful blue eyes, he melted and had to let her have whatever she wanted; even if what she wanted was to parade him around the flower gardens instead of learning fundamentals.

"Maybe I should give up on it and focus more on her other lessons." He sighed, fiddling with his hat a bit as a stranger walked by. "I'm sure she would love the idea."

Raoul actually frowned at this. "Shame." He murmured. "I enjoyed listening to you play."

Erik looked over at him with an unbelieving stare. After a moment, he turned away and looked across the street again. "…I can still play...if you wish." Honestly, Erik would want nothing more than to play for someone's enjoyment, even if that someone was the Vicomte.

"If you wouldn't mind." Raoul flushed and averted his gaze, despite the fact that Erik wasn't looking at him. "I don't want to seem demanding."

They sat in an awkward silence for a while until Madeleine came running over to them. Erik immediately got to his feet and scanned every inch of her before she even made it halfway over. Once he saw that she was smiling and not distraught, he started to calm back down.

"Pappa, they have new poetry books! Oh, please may I get one?" Erik looked anywhere he could but at the two. He suddenly felt very intrusive and out of place. Something he hadn't felt in a very long time. He didn't belong to this family. It wasn't _his_ family. Perhaps he should have felt more appalled at himself for spending so many hours with a child that was not his in any way, but maybe what truly disgusted him is that it didn't feel as wrong as it should have.

Erik stood and kept his head low. "I should be going. I have business to attend to."

Raoul stood slowly, seeing the discomfort in the mans eyes. "I'm…sorry to hear that. Would you like us to-"

"No." He waved a dismissive hand and quickly left. Madeleine gave Raoul a rather hurt look, to which he assured her it wasn't her fault he had to go, though he wasn't so sure that was true.


End file.
